Former Australian Prime Minister Aids South Africa’s Schools

Former Australian Prime Minister Aids South Africa's SchoolsOn Feb. 8, Julia Gillard, former Prime Minister of Australia, visited several of South Africa’s schools. In addition to being the current Chair of the Board of Directors of the Global Partnership for Education, Gillard has worked numerous times with the Dūcere Foundation, an organization that works with local governments to improve education in South Africa’s schools.

During her recent visit, Gillard sat in with classes of several primary schools in honor of the foundation’s African Children’s Stories Program initiation. The program highlights the Dūcere Foundation’s mission of improving literacy and education within South Africa, facilitating the dispersion of stories “written by African children for African children.”

The Dūcere Foundation’s collaborator, Monash South Africa (MSA), hosted much of the trip, arranging in-class visits, meetings and panel discussions, during which Gillard was able to work with South African leaders on the agenda of academic and professional opportunities for students.

The Dūcere Foundation takes business related concepts and strategies to governments to bring about change within local communities. The School Improvement Program, one of the three focuses within the organization, supports literacy and mentorship, encouraging personal literary capabilities as well as the acquisition of skills from peers and mentors. The executive method to success, they maintain, is in-classroom delivery.

In February 2015, Gillard was appointed Chancellor of the Dūcere Business School, a partnership with Australian and other international universities with online coursework for undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, focused on social consciousness and global leadership. Her experience in education policy and her vision for social and academic change made her an invaluable candidate. Her continued moves toward childhood education reform in South Africa are indicative of her plans for growth.

As Chancellor of the Dūcere Business School, Gillard guides inquiring minds toward higher education. As an activist and prominent figure with the Dūcere Foundation, she betters academic practices as early as possible. Gillard and the Dūcere Foundation are leading South Africa to the next level in education.

– Nora Harless

Sources: The Dūcere Foundation, The Dūcere Business School, Global Partnership for Education, Times Live
Photo: Flickr

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Pregnant Women’s Journeys Made Easier

Pregnant Woman's Journey Made EasierIn some developing countries, giving birth does not mean simply rushing to the hospital in pursuit of a doctor. In fact, most women with low-risk pregnancies deliver their baby at home with a trained midwife or trained birth attendant. But for women experiencing high-risk pregnancies, rushing to the hospital could mean traveling 15 miles or more in stressful and unpredictable conditions, which is quite a distance for a woman in labor to travel.

The journey toward emergency care includes many obstacles such as rough, unpaved terrain and unreliable transportation. The harsh conditions of the road serve as a catalyst for the 2.8 million deaths of newborns every year. Similarly, on average, one woman per minute dies due to pregnancy and childbirth.

Fortunately, pregnant women’s journeys are being made easier through the use of maternity waiting homes. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines maternity waiting homes as residential facilities located near a qualified medical facility, where women defined as “high risk” can await their child’s birth and be transferred to a nearby facility shortly before delivery or earlier should complications arise.

These waiting homes serve as a crucial component in closing the geographical gap between rural areas with poor access to equipped facilities and urban areas with available obstetric care. Their main function is to link communities with the health system in a continuum of care.

However, recent studies show that an increasing number of women do not want to stay in maternal waiting homes because of poor, unsafe and unclean conditions. In response, Merck for Mothers, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Africare in partnership with Michigan and Boston University intervened and encouraged local communities to build and upgrade their waiting home facilities.

In an attempt to improve the waiting home conditions, many facilities have started selling produce and handmade goods to generate income, turning the facility into a community managed enterprise. Once the waiting homes acquire the proper funds, they can begin adequately supporting pregnant women.

Without the acceptance and participation of the entire community, waiting homes are unlikely to succeed. The satisfaction of women staying in the home is an essential part of the facility’s success or failure. The credibility of a waiting home determines whether or not it is worth the trip.

Health services generally benefit from favorable reports and the best way to spread these is by word of mouth, according to WHO. Also, the more a community talks about the provided services, the easier it becomes to identify the services that need to be improved and additional ones that need to be created. If implemented and promoted correctly, these maternity waiting homes have the potential to save lives.

– Megan Hadley

Sources: Impatient Optimists, WHO, Africare
Photo: Flickr

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Supplementing Educational Institutions in Nigeria

Afterschool Centre For Career Development

According to research conducted by McKinsey Global Institute, by 2040, 50 percent of the world’s youth will be African. This number reflects the urgent need for educational institutions in countries such as Nigeria to get their children into schools to learn basic academic credentials.

With this aim in mind, the Esther Eshiet’s program Afterschool Centre For Career Development (ACCD) was established. Founded in 2011, the organization is committed to inspiring, investing, engaging and facilitating growth opportunities for young people in the transitional stage of their lives. By learning creative problem-solving techniques, the children obtain innovative skills to expand on the work of educational institutions in Nigeria.

So far, the program has partnered with 30 different secondary schools and developed an online program to reach as many young people as possible. There are currently 42,000 subscribers, according to Changemakers.

Eshiet runs her organization with the idea that “children need the navigation skills to help them determine what skills and direction they need, not to learn for, but to create their own jobs and careers.” It is crucial that children understand their strengths and apply them to specific fields that will foster their full potential in future career services.

The problem ACCD seeks to address is the fact that 62 percent of people in Nigeria live in poverty. Of all those people, 60 percent are young people who find it extremely difficult to find work outside of school. Notably, most of the youths receive little to no career counseling and the transition from school to the real world comes as quite a shock.

Educational institutions in Nigeria often require a ‘transition period’ in which students spend two to four years at home between school and university due to finances and corrupt admission processes. ACCD works with kids during this critical time to actively engage them in society and the economy. That way, the kids do not have to waste time waiting for university acceptance.

Once they are accepted to university, ACCD continues to guide the youths by exposing them to apprenticeships, voluntary placements and other prospects, which continue to build their entrepreneurial experiences and skills needed to develop their individual career paths. By providing kids with the proper tools and resources, Eshiet hopes to spark passion and creativity in the lives of young Nigerians.

Eshiet obtains funds for her organization through friends, family, individuals, foundations and clients. Her goal for ACCD is to become a self-funded organization by offering direct service that is paid for and also through a pay-it-forward model.

The foundation’s growing success in supplementing educational institutions in Nigeria predicts a brighter future for Nigerian youth in years to come.

– Megan Hadley

Sources: Business Fights Poverty, McKinsey, After School Centre, Change Makers
Photo: Flickr

From Model to Miner: The Success Story of Tigui Camara

Tigui CamaraTigui Camara, a former model, is one of the youngest mining executives in Africa and the only woman in Guinea with her own mining company. Given that mining in West Africa is predominately run by middle-aged men, the magnitude of Camara’s success is remarkable.

Camara’s career began on the runway when she was only 14 years old — and soon after escalated into the business world. While living in Morocco, Camara was able to graduate high school early and earn a college degree in business management. Several years later, Camara moved to the U.S. and was hired by a modeling agency in New York.

During her time in the modeling field, Camara made friends with jewelers who had companies in Africa and was inspired to take action. Camara remembers thinking, “If he could do it, I could do it. He is not even from Africa or Guinea, but he has been successful at doing this. Being a native, why can’t I also be successful?”

Camara began saving in order to open her own mining company and she is now the Chairman and CEO of Camara Gold and Mining Network and the CEO of Tigui Mining Group. Her companies acquire and develop mining assets with a focus on gold, diamond and associated minerals.

However, Camara faced setbacks when she hired a business partner who was embezzling the company’s funds for the first year. She also set up her business during a time of political turmoil in Guinea. The country had just undergone a political revolt and 2009 was marked by violent protests and civil unrest.

To make matters worse, Guinea was hit by the Ebola crisis, which began in December 2013 and continued for around two years. It shut down the economy and businesses were hit hard. As a result, Camara stopped all activity until it was safe to return to work.

Finally in recent months, Camara has been able to stabilize the business with proper funding and investors. She claims, “While infrastructure and electricity shortages have created a challenging business environment in the mineral-rich nation, the government is taking steps to improve its industries and encourage foreign investment.”

This provides the U.S. a unique opportunity to purchase gold, diamond and other mineral materials from a deserving business leader. Tigui Camara had to overcome many obstacles in order to get where she is today. Her background in the fashion industry hindered her ability to succeed as an entrepreneur at first but now she has a well-established name and is respected in the mining industry in West Africa.

– Megan Hadley

Sources: How We Made it in Africa, Tigui Mining Group, Black Enterprise

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David Bowie’s Charity Legacy Lives On

David BowieDavid Bowie was unique among famous figures. Not only was he a superstar in the music world, he was also a superstar in the world of helping the hungry, sick and poor. His death in January 2016 came as a blow to both worlds.

David Bowie’s charity work involved supporting causes related to disadvantaged children and youth, human rights, poverty and hunger, women’s issues, disaster relief and AIDS relief/reduction.

According to Look to the Stars, David Bowie took part in many charity activities, including 21st Century Leaders/Whatever It Takes, Every Mother Counts, Keep a Child Alive, Save the Children, the Lunchbox Fund and War Child.

According to their website, 21st Century Leaders is a nonprofit foundation with the mission of influencing well-known people “to raise awareness and funds for international development causes, thereby leading the way in promoting positive environmental and sustainable human development solutions.” David Bowie was one of their leaders.

Whatever It Takes is a project through which artists donate artwork or sign products to raise money to fund global development causes, including environmental protection, the alleviation of poverty and the provision of child services. Bowie designed a plate for Whatever It Takes.

Every Mother Counts is devoted to making pregnancy and birth safe for every woman. Bowie donated a song to their cause, which raises money to help maternal and childcare programs all over the world.

Bowie also performed songs for Keep a Child Alive, a nonprofit organization with the mission “to realize the end of AIDS for children and families, by combating the physical, social and economic impacts of HIV,” according to its website. The organization works in South Africa, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and India, helping 70,000 people a year.

Bowie also contributed to Save the Children and the Lunchbox Fund. In 2014, Save the Children worked in 120 countries and helped 166 million children. The Lunchbox Fund is a nonprofit organization focusing on “education via nutrition by providing a daily meal for orphaned and at-risk school children in township and rural areas of South Africa,” according to its website. The lunchboxes simply provide a meal to a child who goes to school, offering an incentive to stay in school.

David Bowie donated songs to albums for War Child. War Child is an organization that “works toward a world in which no child’s life is torn apart by war,” as stated on its website. The group has helped almost 100,000 children and adults directly and 500,000 indirectly.

Through these charities alone, David Bowie’s charity legacy lives on and continues to have an effect.

– Rhonda Marrone

Sources: Look to the Stars, 21 Century Leaders, Whatever it Takes, Every Mother Counts, Keep Child Alive, Save the Children, The Lunchbox Fund, War Child
Photo: The Imaginative Conservative

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The Life Sack: Providing Access to Improved Water Globally

Life-SackApproximately 63 million people do not have access to clean water, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). To address this problem, industrial designers Jung Uk Park, Myeong Hoon Lee and Dae You Lee came up with the Life Sack.

The Life Sack functions as a water purifier that utilizes solar water disinfection process (SODIS) technology. UVA radiation and thermal treatment work together to kill toxic microorganisms and bacteria.

Typically, UVA radiation and thermal treatment are individually harmful to microorganisms and bacteria. The combined effect, therefore, increases the efficacy of the purification process. Moreover, the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) composition lends the Life Sack a high sunlight penetration ratio and durability.

Fashioned as a backpack, the Life Sack also ensures ease of mobility, which is especially crucial for areas without sources of water. These areas rely on individuals to travel outside of the community to supply the water that they need.

Water purification is not the only way that the Life Sack can be used.

The designers were partly inspired by how nongovernmental organizations and other charities often sent their supplies, such as grain and other food staples, in sacks. The Life Sack can thus double as a storage unit, allowing users to easily store and transfer goods other than water when needed. According to CauseTech, some nongovernmental organizations now use the Life Sack rather than “conventional food bags” to send their goods.

Since the initial launch of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), great improvements have been made in global access to improved sources of drinking water. From 1990 to 2015, the percentage of the global population with access to improved sources of drinking water has risen from 76 percent to 91 percent.

Further improvements are still to be made. Of the 63 million without access to clean water, most are concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern and Southeast Asia.

A lack of access to clean water increases the propensity for water-borne diseases. Figures from WHO indicate that 760,000 children under five die of diarrheal diseases every year. More universal access to clean water would help in reducing this number.

Goal six of the United Nations’ 2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) addresses the need to “ensure access to water and sanitation for all” by 2030. Innovations like the Life Sack may support this effort toward increasing global access to improved water sources.

– Jocelyn Lim

Sources: Inhabitat, SODIS, Tuvie, The United Nations, UNICEF

Ai Weiwei’s Efforts to Raise Awareness for Refugees

Ai Weiwei
Chinese artist Ai Weiwei is well-known for using his art to protest against human rights abuses committed by the Chinese government.

Ai’s concern, however, is not limited to his home country. He has lately made several efforts to support refugees and protest the conditions they find themselves living in.

On the Greek island of Lesbos, Ai recently set up a studio to highlight the plight of refugees. “The island has been the main point of entry into the EU for hundreds of thousands of refugees over the past year and the studio would produce several projects with themes related to the refugee crisis from him and his students, Ai told reporters,” said a January 2016 article in the Guardian.

Ai noted the lack of awareness of the situation and willingness to act in Europe and the rest of the world. “The border is not in Lesbos, it really [is] in our minds and in our hearts,” Ai said.

In Copenhagen, Ai closed down his exhibition in response to new laws and reforms. These laws aim to discourage refugees from seeking asylum by delaying family reunification and by allowing Danish authorities to seize refugee’s valuables. “The law has provoked international outrage, with many human rights activists criticizing the delay for family reunification as a breach of international conventions,” as reported by the Guardian.

“The way I can protest is that I can withdraw my works from that country. It is very simple, very symbolic – I cannot co-exist, I cannot stand in front of these people, and see these policies. It is a personal act, very simple; an artist trying not just to watch events but to act, and I made this decision spontaneously,” Ai told the Associated Press.

Perhaps most publicized and controversial of his recent efforts was a reenacted photo of deceased Syrian toddler Alan Kurdi. In this photo, Ai posed in the position of Kurdi’s dead body. Ai described to CNN his emotional experience of posing for the photograph: “I was standing there and I could feel my body shaking with the wind – you feel death in the wind. You are taken by some kind of emotions that you can only have when you are there. So for me to be in the same position [as Kurdi], is to suggest our condition can be so far from human concerns in today’s politics.”

Ai continued to express his frustration with the lack of action and compassion for refugees: “…you see all those politicians that are not really helping, and trying to find all kinds of excuses. To refuse and to even put these refugees in more tragic situations.”

For this effort in particular, Ai Weiwei received significant criticism. Various news publications and art critics derided the photo. For instance, a headline in the Spectator labeled it “crude, thoughtless and egoistical,” and an article in the Guardian discussed the danger of the photo having a “very real possibility of diluting a worthy cause.”

While the criticism may be valid, to expect Ai Weiwei to stop trying may be very mistaken. He plans to continue to raise awareness and support for the refugees. “As an artist, I have to relate to humanity’s struggles…I never separate these situations from my art.”

– Anton Li

Sources: CNN, The Spectator, The Guardian 1, The Guardian 2, The Guardian 3
Photo: Washington Times

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Where is Mogadishu?

MogadishuLocated in a country right in the Horn of Africa, Mogadishu or Xamar, the capital of Somalia, is the largest city and seaport in the country. The city lies north of the equator on Somalia’s coast on the Indian Ocean.

Considering its location, it is not surprising that Mogadishu was Somalia’s major port for centuries and has since served as the commercial and financial center of the country. Previously known as the “White Pearl of the Indian Ocean,” the city has undergone much turmoil, given its conflicts between competing warlords and various militias until 2006.

Mogadishu started to expand steadily in 2010 with the election of a new technocratic government and the start of federal control of the city. In 2013, Mogadishu’s population was estimated to be around two million people.

At present, the people of Mogadishu can look back at the past and see how far their city has come — from the days of war, when women were forced to wear niqabs and children were not allowed to play football on the streets, to present times, when women can wear modern clothes under their abayas.

2016 is a very important year for the city of Mogadishu and Somalia as a whole because of its upcoming presidential election. This is not just an ordinary presidential election because this could be the first time a woman holds the top job in the country.

Somalia’s first female presidential candidate is Fadumo Dayib, the daughter of Somali parents who was born in Kenya but grew up in Somalia and Finland. Though Fadumo did not learn to read and write until the age of 14, she managed to earn a master’s degree in health care and public health.

During the time she worked with the United Nations, she realized her passion was to do more to help Somalians.

From the perspectives of Somalians like Fadumo from the diaspora, returning to their country, Mogadishu is growing very quickly. As described by Laila Ali in the Guardian, Mogadishu is becoming like “Manhattan or Central London…new buildings and businesses are emerging from the carnage and lawlessness that pervaded the East African country for more than two decades.”

Mogadishu is rising from the dust after 23 years of conflict and is growing at a rate of 6.9 percent as the world’s second fastest growing city. Despite its horrid past, this “White Pearl of the Indian Ocean” is surely making steps in the right direction due to an improvement in its security situation and economic pursuits.

– Vanessa Awanyo

Sources: Nations Online, The Guardian 1, BBC, Fortune of Africa, The Guardian 2
Photo: Flickr

Supermarket Chain Branches Out to Customers in Kenya

Tuskys, Kenya’s second-largest retailer, recently began franchising as part of an expansion strategy to reach out and assist small businesses.

Created in the early 1980s, the family-owned supermarket has 52 stores in Kenya and seven in Uganda. Each Tuskys store tends to be located near a bus terminal in order to grant customers easy access to both groceries and public transportation.

However, the new expansion strategy allows the supermarket chain to be even closer to customers in Kenya through the use of a franchising model, which will rebrand and trade independent shops as Tuskys outlets.

“There is someone who is running a successful retail business in Kibera and all they need is a bit of support to make their business more modern, support to access a wider range of products from manufacturers and to better engage with customers,” CEO Dan Githua says. “We can give that to the retailer as a package and make some money out of it, and the retailer also gets to expand their business.”

Tuskys not only cares about their customers but also about their employees. In October 2015, the supermarket chain set aside 154 million shillings to train graduates in the business. The five-year program allowed up to 2,000 interns to partake in a six-month-long training program. After the program ended, 60 percent of the interns were guaranteed a job in the Tuskys’ workforce.

With a wide range of new interns, Tuskys was able to come up with a quick expansion strategy. Tuskys will begin with five stores as pilots, before adopting a wider franchising business model. The supermarket chain is looking to promote small businesses that are well-served with a nice space and location. After locating these entrepreneurs, Tuskys will then offer a value proposition.

The main goal of the expansion is to give small business owners what they need. Githua says, “If he doesn’t have freezers, we will give them nice freezers. If he doesn’t bake bread, we introduce Tuskys bread in the store.”

By providing Kenyan and Ugandan businesses with proper goods, the store owners and employees will benefit and more people will have access to necessary resources.

– Megan Hadley

Sources: How We Made It in Africa, Standard Media, Tuskys

Five Celebrities Who Fought Global Poverty in 2015

Being in the spotlight gives charitable celebrities the unique ability to send messages, raise money and act as major advocates for important causes around the world. In 2015, these five stars stood out for their global poverty-fighting efforts:

1) Akon

CelebritiesMany charitable celebrities have favorite organizations or causes and Akon’s interest in improving electrical accessibility in Africa hits close to home. Growing up in southern Senegal, Akon experienced a childhood without electricity. While Akon may have made his way to the United States, 600 million Africans still lack consistent access to energy.

In a recent interview with Devex, the American rapper stated that he felt it was time for some innovation in poverty-combating efforts: “There’s always been so many initiatives in Africa, so much money raised in Africa, but there’s never no results and it got to the point where you get tired of it […] I took it more personal than anything and I wanted to be in a position to where if I move forward on something I wanted to actually see it materialize.”

In 2013, he founded Akon Lighting Africa, along with Thione Niang and Samba Bathily, which invests in solar energy at a grassroots level in African communities. Through innovative solutions, the organization has grown and reached more countries in 2015, celebrating the inauguration of the Solektra Solar Academy, which promises bright things to come.

2) Angelina Jolie

CelebritiesNo list of famous global poverty warriors would be complete without Angelina Jolie. After years of working on global refugee issues with UNHCR, she was appointed in 2012 to the role of Special Envoy for Refugee Issues and has since extended her good work.

2015 was a big year for Jolie, who not only continued to donate her time and money to a wide variety of global charities but also brought light to many of the struggling Syrian refugees, according to the Times.

She also spent time revisiting her son Maddox’s birthplace in Cambodia and visited the two poverty-fighting organizations she helped found there: the Maddox Jolie-Pitt Foundation and the Maddox Chivan Children’s Center.

3) Matt Damon

CelebritiesActor Matt Damon has been working on improving access to clean water for many years. In 2006, he co-founded the H20 Africa Foundation, which later merged with WaterPartners and became Water.org, developing a more global focus.

In 2015 Damon and Water.org’s co-founder Gary White updated the public on the organization’s progress, stating in an interview for USA Today that it “surpassed its goal of reaching 2 million people with safe water and/or sanitation.”

In September 2015, Damon announced that he, along with friend Ben Affleck, will be producing a film set against the backdrop of the global water crisis entitled “Thirst.” The movie is currently in development for HBO Films.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpUWtMYqikc

4) Serena Williams

CelebritiesLast year, Williams expanded her already impressive portfolio of charity work by launching the 1 in 11 campaign, which focuses on helping the one in 11 children in the world who are kept out of school to get a quality education and achieve their full potentials.

Her foundation, the Serena Williams Foundation, gives large sums of money each year to a myriad of organizations, including UNICEF, Build African Schools and the Equal Justice Initiative.

A superstar on and off the tennis courts, Williams makes charity work a priority by forming partnerships with nonprofits and utilizing her global platform for good.

5) Emma Watson

CelebritiesSince graduating from her role as Hermione in the Harry Potter franchise, Emma Watson has been a huge contributor to humanitarian issues around the globe.

In 2014, she was appointed by the United Nations to assume the role of Global Ambassador for Women. She has since been a huge advocate for girls’ education as a means of alleviating poverty and promoting equal rights. She has used this platform to bring attention to the HeforShe campaign, which advocates for global gender equality.

2015 saw major fundraising efforts by Ms. Watson, who auctioned off her shoes to benefit the Small Steps Project, an organization providing emergency aid to communities living in municipal garbage dumps around the world.

– Jennifer Diamond

Sources: Akon Lighting Africa 1, Akon Lighting Africa 2, Akon Lighting Africa 3, Devex, UNHCR, The Times, Journeys 4 Good, Global Health Committee, People, Water, USA Today, Variety, Serena Williams, CNBC, The Leaky Cauldron
Photo: Music.Mic, SUN, LiveScience, Mission, Global Citizen